William



W. 0. LESLIE.

Brick Kiln.

Patented Aug. I8. 1868.

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@eine gisten' stmt @fitta WILLIAM O. LESLIE, OFA PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.-

Letters Patent No. 81,094, dated August 18, 1868.

- vIMPROITED APPARATUS POR DRYING BBIGKS.-

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'Qro ALL wHoM IT MAY ooNcERN':

Beit known that I, WILLIAM O.LESLIE, of the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania,

have invented a new andimproved Apparatus for Drying Bricks; andI do hereby declare the following to be a. full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had 'to the accompanying drawings forming part ofthis specification, and in which- A Figure 1 is a. plan or `top view of my invention, with a. portion broken away so as to show the interior thereof. I

Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same in line x-z of iig. 1. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

InY this invention, the bricks are dried, preparatory to placing them in the=kiln, by beingcarried on a car into a drying-chamberl and subjected to a dry air heated to about 90 Fahrenheit, thence passing to a secondv chamber, in-whch the temperature is about 100, thence passing to athird, where the temperature is 110,

whence they are taken to the kiln. The construction and` arrangement of the drying-chambers` and heating.

appara-tus are designed to regulate the temperature of the chambers and facilitate thc drying of the bricks.

In the manufacture or bricks, it is necessary to,.dry them gradually before placing them in the kiln. ,The vheet Vt9 which they are subjected in this preliminary drying must not at first exceed about 90. Fahrenheit, or'the bricks will crack, warp, and burst. Ordinarily the operation is performed by spreading the bricks out en a large level bed or floor, and allowing them to remain exposed to theair and sun for several days.` 'Besides the large space required Ifor such a process, the method is slow and attended with many dificlties, and its operation is not always satisfactory. In the summer,the bricks may be subjected to a temperature of 110, or even, at

times, 120, if exposed to the direct rays of the sun, and at other seasons the process is impracticable for want of sufficient heat. In any season, long-continued rains delay the completion of the process, and sometimes greatly injurethe bricks. The only method which will at all times work satisfactorily must =be 'an artificial process of drying the green bricks, which the operator'can regulate and control at pleasure.

'I have invented an improved'apparatus', consisting of the series of drying-chambers above referred to, connected with a furnace, in'which the bricks can'be subjected to diiierent temperatures without inconvenience, and can be prepared forthe kiln in eight hours Afrom the time when theycome from the press.

In order that others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may be enabled to make and use the same, I will proceed to describe it in detail.

In the drawings- I A represents the drying-house, in which are three chambers, A A2 A3, separated by iron folding doors',

B B. `A railroad, RR,` runs through the drying-house, passing through each of the threechambers. The walls.

ofthe drying-house are of brick, and its top is an ,arched cover of brick, provided with valve-escape doors, a a a, which can be opened or'shut at pleasure, to regulate the escape of thc hot air from the several apartments. The ends ofthe drying-house are composed of large iron fldingdoors, D D, closing inward. The inner doors, B B, close ineither direction.

Fis a furnace under' the chamber A3, the smoke-pipe of which discharges the products of combustion into the smoke-stack S, and the hot air from which is carried tothe three apartments A1 Az A3, by means of the hotair pipes H Hl, providedA with openings'lt1 h h3, each of which is fitted with a hot-air register.

The furnace, hot-air pipes, and registers may be of any known form and construction. The fgrnace is preferably situated under vthe chamber Aa in a basement or cellar, G,`.but may be situated in a room adjoining the side walls of that chamber. The bricks are loaded on cars C C C, in such a manner that the hot air can `penetrate among them, and a car, with its load, is conveyed on the railroad to the first-chamber, Al, where it is subjected for three hours to a temperature of about 90 Fahrenheit. The car is then conveyed to' the nextuchamber, A2, a fresh car taking its vacated placein chamber A, and it is in this middle chamber subjected for. three hours more toa temperature of 100. It is then conveyed to the third and last chemb.er,A3, where it is subjected for two hours to a temperature of 110, when the car is taken through the door, at the end opposite to`whieh it entered the drying-house, and conveyed to the kiln, where itdischarges its contents. In this manner all the chambers are in use at the same time, and the het air that may escape from one to the other is not lost, but utilized in the latter. The heat in the several chambers can be perfectly regulated by the registers connected with the hot-air pipes, and the moist air charged with the dampness given off fronl` the bricks will escape through the openings a a ain the roof ofthe house, while a constant current; of dry air from below takes its place around the cars. p

By this process the bricks will be perfectly prepared for the kiln infeight hours from leaving the machine Without regard to the season, climate, or condition of the weather, and with less waste and loss of material from cracking, warping, 3ro., than by the old method.

I am aware that the several devices above described, when considered separately, and to some extent even their combination, cannot be held to be new; but Y What I claim as new, and desire to lsecure by Letters Patent, is-

'.Ihe drying-house above described, consistng'of the brick building A, having the compartments -Al A2 A3,

the furnace F, the hot-air pipes H II, the registers h 77.2 h3, `the valve-doors a a a, the doors B B and D D, and the railroad B. R, all constructed, combined, and. arranged substantially in the manner and for the purpose specified.

WM. O.4 LESLIE.

Witnesses Cms. A.Pnrr1r, SoLoN C. KEMoN. 

